The Westmont football season ended at the hands of a Central Coast Section powerhouse in 2009 when Los Gatos, the eventual CCS Division II champion, steamrolled Westmont 48-0 in an opening round game.

The playoff matchup would be the last game for former Westmont head coach Jake Redmond.

Redmond decided to step down after the season, winding up as the new head coach across town at Andrew Hill, a new entry in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League after winning the Santa Teresa Division title last fall.

A defensive assistant last year at Westmont, former Del Mar head coach Eric Buran was named the new head football coach in early January.

“Our goal this year is to lay a foundation,” Buran said. “They came to me and knew I had the experience to do the job. We’re a very young group. I just want my players to compete hard every day and we’ll take it from there.”

Only three seniors return with varsity experience for the Warriors. The rest of the heavy lifting will lay at the feet of a large junior class.

Senior wide outs Nehemiah Tia (6-2, 200) and Alex Kamara (6-2, 220) are two of the senior returners and both will be vital cogs in the Warriors passing game along with playing linebacker on defense. The dynamic duo each have ideal size and snatch up anything that comes their way. Few B-league foes will be able to counter the size and speed combo the Warriors will unveil outside the numbers.

With Tia and Kamara on the outside, senior quarterback Marcus Bojorquez (6-1, 190) won’t have to worry about breaking in any new targets to get the passing game off and running.

Bojorquez was part of the wide out group last season but with several key seniors lost to graduation, Buran moved the talented senior to the quarterback spot.

“He throws a nice ball,” Buran said. “Just like a lot of our guys, it’s not about the skill side of the game. It’s the mental game that we need to work on with Marcus and with everyone on this football team.”

Westmont finished 6-4-1 overall and 4-2-1 in league play in ’09. They were upended by Independence and suffered a narrow 21-20 defeat to Willow Glen. Both L’s hurt, but a 14-14 tie to eventual league champ Hill stung even worse. Hill will play in the “A” league this fall, while Lincoln will come down and join the “B” division.

“There’s no hard feelings,” Buran said about Redmond’s move to Hill. “The move did surprise me, but everyone has moved on and now it’s time to just go play some football. Last year’s team should have won the league. We got by on sheer talent most of the time. It’s the mental game we need to improve on.”

In order to get the football in the hands of the dangerous playmakers on the outside, the Warriors will count on three newcomers to the o-line to provide some time for their new quarterback.

Jak Jacoby (5-10, 200), Matt Ryan (6-0, 220) and Maurico Gonzalez (5-10, 225) all will start up front. Jacoby and Gonzalez will also start on the defensive line, while Ryan will play linebacker alongside Tia and Kamara.

Westmont opens non-league play at home against the team without a field, better known as Fremont of Sunnyvale. Fremont’s historic Diesner Field is under construction, forcing the Firebirds to play all their games away from home this fall.

After the home opener, the Warriors host A-league member Leigh in a juicy Sept. 10 showdown. A road tilt at Saratoga rounds out the non-league slate, giving Buran’s group a lot to chew on during the early portion of the 2010 campaign.

“I love it,” Buran said. “We want to go out and play good teams. We’ll know a lot more about ourselves going into league.”

The game of the season could fall on Oct. 15 when Westmont hosts the high-powered Rams of Willow Glen.

“Willow Glen and Independence are the teams to beat,” Buran said. “Willow Glen had a strong team last season at the varsity and the JV level.”

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A rooftop camera recorded the silver Ford Fiesta driving past Parliament and suddenly veering sharply to the left, striking cyclists waiting at a set of lights, then crossing the road and crashing into a barrier outside Parliament. Armed police surrounded the car within seconds, pulling a man from the vehicle. Police said the driver was alone and no weapons were...